Paul I Peter Massad, or Boulos Boutros Massaad (also Mas'ad; ; 16 February 1806 – 18 April 1890) was the 70th

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

Catholic

Patriarch of Antioch The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...

from 1854 until his death in 1890.

Life

Massad was born in the village of Ashqout in the Keserwan District, Lebanon, on February 16, 1806. He studied in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of 'Ain-Ourakat and later for seven years in the College of the Propaganda in Rome. After returning to Lebanon he became the secretary of Joseph Peter Hobaish, who ordained him as a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

on June 13, 1830. Joseph Peter Hobaish consecrated Massad

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tarsus on March 28, 1841, and appointed him as his own spiritual vicar. After Joseph Ragi El Khazen's death Massad was elected his successor as Maronite patriarch of Antioch on November 12, 1854 and confirmed on March 23, 1855, by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

. upright=1, left, alt=Letter from Father Massad, Letter from Massad, 1841 In 1867 Massad traveled to Rome with a Maronite delegation that included the Archbishop of Tyre Pierre Bostani to attend the 1800th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. He was the second Maronite Patriarch after Jeremy el-Amchiti (died 1230) to travel to Rome. Following Rome, he travelled to France where he asked

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

for financial and political help for the Christians of Lebanon. Napoleon III gave him the French Legion of Honour. He then journeyed to Constantinople where he was received by Sultan Abdul-Aziz and presented with the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie. He did not personally participate in the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

in 1869-1870, delegating the

Archbishop of Tyre The See of Tyre was one of the most ancient dioceses in Christianity. The existence of a Christian community there in the time of Saint Paul is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Seated at Tyre (Lebanon), Tyre, which was the capital of the Roma ...

, Pierre Boustani, to head a delegation that also included the Archbishop of Beirut Tobia Aoun. Massad fully established the Maronite Church within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

while maintaining many of its own distinctive elements. He died on April 18, 1890, in the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate in Bkerké, Lebanon.

Sources

* Pierre Dib, v. Maronite (Eglise), in the Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique, Tome Dixième, première partie, Paris 1928, coll. 106-107.

Notes

External links

* http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k105630f/f293.image {{DEFAULTSORT:Massad, Paul Peter 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 1806 births 1890 deaths Lebanese Christian clergy Lebanese Maronites Maronite Patriarchs of Antioch